Wintergreen: The resort for all seasons

In Ecclesiastes 3:1, we learn that “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” Experiencing the delightful all-season Wintergreen Resort in Virginia is a living testimony to this biblical verse. Back to the basics, this ecologically charged resort of nature’s treasures in a scintillating setting of 11,000 acres, offers glorious year-round living, recreation and relaxation surrounded by winding trails, cascading streams and lush forests unrivalled in the East Coast.

This pristine resort located in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains celebrated its 36th anniversary last year. A picturesque haven in all four seasons with the wildflowers that blossom in spring, the warmth and scents of summertime, the fiery crimson hues of autumn and the snow-capped adventures of winter. Significant annual events hosted here include the first three years of the Tour DuPont, America’s premier cycling event.  In 1969, the entire mountaintop area now part of the Wintergreen Resort, known as the “Big Survey,” was purchased for $85,000. During this time, there were no roads, electricity, water or sewer lines — everything had to be created. Today, the synergy of tradition and innovation has paid off handsomely.

The call of fall beckons at this picture-perfect creek at Wintergreen resort.

This season, prepare for an amazing winter wonderland for skiers of all ages and skill levels. Bounded on two sides by the George Washington National Forest, it offers seven lifts including two high-speed, six-passenger chair lifts that will provide more time skiing and less time standing in lift lines. Wintergreen offers 26 slopes that range from beginner to expert trails, 14 slopes lit for night skiing and a vertical drop that plunges to over 1,000 feet.  Interesting trivia: during ski visits here in the mid-‘80s, Amy Carter, former US President Jimmy Carter’s daughter, would repeatedly out-ski the secret service assigned to her. Boxing sensation Mohammed Ali owned a property in Nelson County during this time and was a frequent guest at the Wintergreen restaurants.

I will never forget watching the sunset from Devil’s Grill restaurant perched on top of the Blue Ridge Mountains, while sipping iced berry mojito.  The sight of the velvety carpeted golf course that resembles a well manicured lawn and towering oak and maple trees wafting their fresh mountain scents beckons. The cool crisp air invites multi-color butterflies to flutter around and flowers glisten in its golden rays.  As inviting as taking a dip in crystal-clear spring waters, my friends and I excitedly rush to our golf cart to take the first drive from the lengthy par 5 hole as possums, and squirrels scurry in front of us.

Charming marketing manager Betsy Dunkerton shared that the highest golf course in Virginia with elevations of 3,850 feet, Devil’s Knob Golf Course offers 50-mile views of the dramatic Shenandoah and Rockfish valleys. With an exhilarating 6,801 yards, the golfing experience here is simply indulgence on the greens. The course is a synergy of tight doglegs and delightfully sloped greens. Another treat is the Stoney Creek golf course just a 15-minute drive away from Devil’s Knob. Immaculate fairways meander through eco-luxurious woods that incorporate the charming Lake Monocan and Stoney Creek. These courses and views dominate the mountain range like a demi-god that guards the sacred valley.

Wintergreen is also famous for its excellent cuisine. The dinner at Devil’s Grill was truly an epicurean adventure. Each dish lovingly prepared by its executive chef was a masterpiece in itself, from the Baltimore crab cakes bursting with shredded crab meat with sweet coleslaw and pickles, to the tender and succulent Chesapeake scallops with sweet orange and lime marmalade, the salad with goat cheese, candied pecans, balsamic vinegar, asiago soup with fresh cream. For that sweet ending, we had sauterne wine and coffee-maple crème brulee that simply melted in the mouth. This was truly a well-deserved reward after a spectacular round of 18 holes.

Gracious vice president of food and beverage Lynn Tyler is the brains behind the resort’s highly successful restaurant, the Copper Mine, which started in the 1970s.  Thirty years later, this restaurant has become the flagship for the F&B operation that includes four year-round dining outlets and four seasonal ones. “We wanted it to become a place where everyone in the family could get a really nice meal, but it would be much different than a typical Italian restaurant,” Tyler says. “And also a place where the family could eat more than once a weekend while they were here, without breaking the bank.”  The answer was to combine sophisticated dishes for adults such as salmon puttanesca with Parmesan orzo and asparagus with flatbread pizzas and other kid-friendly options. 

At Wintergreen, you are spoilt for choice. Every member of the family will find an activity that appeals to them, from the uniquely designed spa treatments, indoor and outdoor pools with hot Jacuzzis, gym, zip line and summer mountain tubing, skiing, snowboarding and tubing, dining, canoeing, biking, water sports on Lake Monocan, concerts, award-winning tennis programs, fly fishing, and adrenaline pumping activities at the Discovery Ridge Adventure Center. Accommodations range from log cabins to condominiums perched on the scenic ridge, homes on the golf course and by the lake with the mountains as backdrop sentinels. You must try the resort’s spa treatments like the Wintergreen Signature Custom Massage that is a delicious synergy of Swedish deep tissue, reflexology and stone massage techniques to restore the equilibrium of mind and body. The Lavender Body Glow and Wrap and Blue Ridge Mud Wraps are also rejuvenating.

The resort is located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, which celebrated its 75th anniversary last year. The parkway meanders 469 miles from Shenandoah National Park in the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and boasts some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.  A hundred species of trees, a variety of flowering shrubs and wildflowers as well 54 different mammals and 59 species of birds live along the Parkway paradise.

Each moment here is one of inner bliss. Each art of creation is perfected in time. Each life that comes here is blessed furthermore. Wintergreen is a community that has lovingly considered each and every one’s distinct and unique preference. A sanctuary of nature that was created when the African continent collided with the North American ridge that created the Blue Ridge Mountains. Even the ancestors of this place knew long before the priceless value of nature that ought to be preserved for future generations.

It is in these alluring setting that we find Wintergreen, the jewel of the forest where man has complemented nature by creating eco- friendly structures and edifices for comfort and relaxation. As wildlife from chattering squirrels to the occasional black bear, white tailed deer by the roadside or birds aplenty in flight, this is a unique paradise that offers a lifestyle beyond compare.  As we enjoy our journey down the historic and beloved trails, we notice the beautiful dogwoods that fill the mountain with immaculate white and pink swaths of blossoms. Christian legend has it that the dogwood was the tree used for Christ’s cross; afterwards the tree, once tall and straight, was made short and curving so it could never again be used for such a task. The notches in its four petals are said to represents Christ’s wounds.

With great revelry and reverence to the Creator of all, Wintergreen offers only the best of creation the way it was in the beginning. Fresh, natural, eco-luxuriant and above all, a living testimony that life preserved and conserved is living stewardship that will be rewarded with even more treasures — the best gift we can bequeath to the succeeding generations.

This is the best of God’s creation for anyone at anytime and season. 

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For more information about Wintergreen Resort, please log on to www.wintergreenresort.com. Philippine Airlines flies daily from Manila to SFO. Take a domestic carrier to Charlottesville Airport. Wintergreen Resort is a two-hour drive from Charlottesville. E-mail the author at miladay.star@yahoo.com.